FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Los Angeles, April 1, 1998) The privately-held Mundial Broadcasting Group L.L.P. today announced the purchase of Los Angeles radio station KFI AM 640 from Cox Radio, Inc. The transaction was a 100% cash deal for $232 million, making this one of the largest deals in radio industry history. KFI will be the ninth U.S. station in the Mundial Group. Mundial owns an additional 17 stations throughout Central and South America. As a result of the acquisition, KFI, the number one talk radio station in Los Angeles, will switch to a Spanish Adult Contemporary format today at 12:01PM.
"The most important asset to us is KFI's signal strength," commented Mundial CEO Tonto D. Abril. KFI, which broadcasts at 50,000 watts, is designated by the FCC as a Clear Channel Station. "Our signal will reach from the Mexican border to Santa Barbara County," continues Abril. "We will now be able to reach every Spanish-speaking radio listener in Southern California."
This is the second time KFI has changed hands in recent history. In 1973 KFI was acquired by Cox Radio, Inc., a media group that currently includes over 51 stations. According to David G. Hall, Program Director of KFI and a Vice President of Cox Radio, Inc, "KFI was one of the leading stations in our group. However, we believe that the purchase price Cox Radio negotiated is far above the market value of the station."
Mr. Hall indicated that Cox plans to use the proceeds of the KFI sale to purchase several new stations in other mid-sized markets. Last quarter Cox posted a $49.1 million gain on the sale of two of its Chicago radio stations.
This transaction represents a growing trend towards Spanish-language programming in the Los Angeles market. In 1997, KSCA 101.9 FM was purchased for $110 million by Heftel Broadcasting Corp, which owns 17 Spanish language stations. KSCA is currently the number two station in the Los Angeles market, second to another Heftel station, KLVE.
Most of KFI's staff will be layed-off this Friday, although some will be relocated to other Cox stations, according to David G. Hall. The entire KFI on-air lineup will be let go, except for Phil Hendrie and his wife Maria Sanchez, who have been signed as the station's new morning team. Hendrie is fluent in Spanish and spent several years at a Miami station before coming to KFI.
Ironically, conversations between Cox and Mundial got started when a Mundial executive read an article entiled "Mexiled" in LA Weekly. In the March 6 article, LA Weekly's Lalo Lopez describes Hendrie as "the coolest white-guy talk-show host on AM radio." The article also featured a doctored photo of Hendrie reading a magazine with the following headline: "KFI's Phil Hendrie Named Best LA Latino Radio Personality."
"We are supremely confident that Mr. Hendrie will live up to those prophetic words," Abril says. "With the talent we're bringing to this station and our new Spanish Adult Contemporary format, we plan to be a top 5 station in this market by year's end."
Visit KFI's old website. It will remain updated until Friday, April 3rd.